Family

Family.com Entertainment Movie Review: Rush Hour 3

What Families Love

Just for Mom

Movie Review: Rush Hour 3

Just like the first two, but in Paris.

By Cynthia Fuchs

From our provider:

Common Sense Rating: PAUSE for ages 12+ Stars: 2 out of 5 (About Common Sense Ratings)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 sequences of action violence, sexual content, nudity and language. Studio: New Line Cinema Directed By: Brett Ratner Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow Running Time: 90 min Release Date: 08/09/2007 Genre: Action/adventure

What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this third installment in the Rush Hour franchise is a lot like the first two. It's got lots of extremely boisterous comic violence, with a mix of martial arts, slapstick, and shoot-'em-up aesthetics that sometimes leads to bloodied faces and painfully twisted bodies. Motor-mouthed co-star Chris Tucker's brand of verbal comedy includes plenty of sexual references and dicey language that seems designed to get around the PG-13 rating (for example: referring to, but not saying, the "N" word and cutting off "motherf--" before it's finished). A French detective conducts anal probes of Carter and Lee when they arrive in Paris (off-screen), leaving them in some visible pain. Supporting characters smoke cigarettes and drink, and a brief, unconsummated sex scene shows Carter in bed (naked chest) with a woman in her bra and panties. Frequent language includes variations on "s--t," "damn," and "ass."

Families can talk about Lee and Carter's loyal, cross-cultural friendship. Why is so much of the movie's humor based on differences in characters' cultures and backgrounds? Is Carter's ignorance really funny, or do the jokes seem forced? Why? How does this movie compare to the first two? Does the series' "formula" still work? What changes would you make if you were the director? Families can also discuss how the film represents women -- what roles do Soo Yung, Genevieve, and Jasmine fill?

Common Sense Media Review
"War! Huh! What is it good for!?" Edwin Starr's anti-Vietnam war song became a buddy-anthem in the original Rush Hour -- which found perennial LAPD muck-up Carter ( Chris Tucker) joining forces with Chinese Chief Inspector Lee ( Jackie Chan), even though they were barely able to understand each another. The jokes about cultural ignorance were obvious, but the charismatic players brought different skills to the movie: Chan the inventive martial artist and Tucker the motor mouth.

Two films later, the combination is tired; unfortunately but not unexpectedly, the best material (once again) appears in the outtakes at the end. RUSH HOUR 3 doesn't swerve from director Brett Ratner's formula: The buddies fight, bond, trade japes, rescue beautiful women, and fight off expert killers.

This time, following the shooting of Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma, who was also in the first film), the guys make their way to Paris, which, apparently, is a stronghold for Chinese Triad gangs. Supposedly there to protect World Criminal Court chief General Reynard ( Max von Sydow, who might be wondering how he came to this, considering his several collaborations with the late Ingmar Bergman), the duo indulges in one raucous scene after another. Not incidentally, they also end up saving two beautiful women, Han's daughter Soo Yung (Jingchu Zhang) and model-singer-gambler Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir).

The action is non-stop and includes several urban chase scenes, martial arts slapstick (one pits Carter and Lee against real-life 7'9" basketball player Sun Ming Ming, here a lumbering bodyguard), and shootouts in a hospital and a nightclub.

In Paris, they're accosted by Detective Revi ( Roman Polanski), who dons a rubber glove in order to search their nether regions (why this sort of probe is repeatedly used in buddy movies remains a mystery) and befriended by a cabbie named George (Yvan Attal). Both characters embody Carter's generally anti-French sentiments (when he meets an "Asian" who speaks French, he instructs, "Stop humiliating yourself!"). Initially dismissive of Yankees ("You lost in Vietnam, you lost in Iraq," he sniffs), George is soon won over by Carter and Lee's thrilling chaos in the form of the car chases and guns. Now, George says, he knows what it means to be an American: to "kill people for no reason."

It's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but compared to the rest of the film's relentless repetitions -- the fights, stunts, and jokes all start to blend together -- George at least emerges as a character with an arc. Everyone else appears to be running, jumping, and screaming in place.

Fans might want to see the first two Rush Hour movies or similar buddy films like Lethal Weapon and Bad Boys. Or try The Transporter , a dryer, less French-phobic action extravaganza.

Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.